AZ-104 Deploy and Manage Azure Compute Practice Test 13 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A line-of-business app runs on two Azure VMs in the same region. The business wants to reduce the chance that both VMs are affected by the same planned host update. What should the administrator use?

Accepted Answer

An availability set. An availability set ensures that VMs are placed on different fault domains and update domains within an Azure datacenter. Fault domains isolate VMs from shared hardware failures, while update domains ensure that planned host updates (e.g., OS patching) are applied sequentially across groups, so not all VMs are rebooted simultaneously. This directly reduces the chance that both VMs are affected by the same planned host update.

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A public load balancer

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A managed image

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A private endpoint

Question 2

An operations team maintains a hardened Windows base image that includes patch baseline settings and monitoring agents. They need to publish new versions, replicate the image to another region, and deploy future VMs from the same controlled image source. What should they use?

Accepted Answer

An Azure Compute Gallery image version.. An Azure Compute Gallery (formerly Shared Image Gallery) is the correct service for managing, versioning, replicating, and deploying custom Windows images across regions. It supports multiple image versions, regional replication, and allows you to deploy VMs from a controlled, hardened base image. Snapshots alone lack versioning and cross-region replication capabilities.

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A snapshot of the generalized OS disk.

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A VM extension on an existing VM.

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An availability set for the image resources.

Question 3

A stateless web application is hosted on an Azure virtual machine scale set. Traffic is predictable: CPU usage stays below 20% overnight, then rises above 70% during business hours. The administrator wants the instance count to increase automatically when average CPU stays high for 10 minutes and to decrease after demand drops. What should be configured?

Accepted Answer

Autoscale rules on the virtual machine scale set.. Autoscale rules on the virtual machine scale set allow the administrator to define a scale-out condition (e.g., average CPU > 70% for 10 minutes) and a scale-in condition (e.g., average CPU < 20% for a specified duration). This matches the requirement for automatic, metric-based scaling based on predictable traffic patterns.

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A proximity placement group for the scale set instances.

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Manual scale operations only.

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An availability set with three update domains.

Question 4

Based on the exhibit, a stateless web app must add VM instances during business hours and remove them at night based on CPU usage. Which Azure service should the administrator deploy?

Accepted Answer

An Azure virtual machine scale set.. An Azure virtual machine scale set (VMSS) is the correct choice because it automatically scales the number of VM instances in or out based on CPU usage metrics, and it supports scheduled scaling to add instances during business hours and remove them at night. This aligns with the stateless web app requirement for elastic, automated scaling without manual intervention.

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An availability set with two virtual machines.

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A single Azure VM with a larger size.

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A recovery services vault.

Question 5

Based on the exhibit, which Azure compute service should you deploy for a stateless web app that needs more instances during business hours and fewer at night?

Accepted Answer

A virtual machine scale set with autoscale rules.. A virtual machine scale set with autoscale rules is the correct choice because it automatically adjusts the number of VM instances based on demand, scaling out during business hours and scaling in at night. This matches the stateless web app requirement, as scale sets are designed for stateless workloads where instances can be added or removed without data loss.

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A single larger virtual machine.

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An availability set with two VMs.

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A dedicated host with one VM per host.

Question 6

An administrator needs to deploy a VM quickly using the same hardened operating system image that was approved by the security team. What should the administrator use as the source for the new VM?

Accepted Answer

A managed image. A managed image captures a fully configured, hardened OS disk (including installed software and settings) as a reusable snapshot. When deploying a new VM, specifying this managed image as the source ensures the VM boots with the exact, security-approved OS configuration, meeting the requirement for a quick, consistent deployment.

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A network interface

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A resource lock

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A public IP address

Question 7

Based on the exhibit, a workload must remain available even if one datacenter in an Azure region becomes unavailable. The region supports zone deployment. What should the administrator configure?

Accepted Answer

Availability zones.. Availability zones are physically separate datacenters within an Azure region, each with independent power, cooling, and networking. Deploying the workload across two or more zones ensures that if one datacenter fails, the other zones continue to operate, maintaining availability. This directly meets the requirement of surviving a single datacenter outage within a region that supports zone deployment.

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An availability set.

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A resource lock.

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A user-defined route.

Question 8

Based on the exhibit, the administrator needs to deploy a VM quickly using a preapproved hardened operating system image. Which source should be used when creating the VM?

Accepted Answer

An approved custom image in an Azure Compute Gallery.. An approved custom image in an Azure Compute Gallery (formerly Shared Image Gallery) is the correct source because it allows the administrator to deploy a VM quickly using a preapproved, hardened operating system image. The Azure Compute Gallery provides versioning, replication, and regional distribution of custom images, ensuring that the hardened OS is readily available for rapid deployment across multiple regions. This aligns with the requirement for a preapproved image that meets security and compliance standards.

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A temporary public IP address.

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A network security group rule.

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An Azure Monitor alert rule.

Question 9

After a Windows VM is created, the administrator wants IIS installed and a configuration script run automatically without signing in to the server. Which Azure feature should be used?

Accepted Answer

A virtual machine extension. A virtual machine extension (such as the Custom Script Extension for Windows) allows you to deploy and run scripts on an Azure VM after provisioning, without requiring any interactive sign-in. This is the correct Azure feature to automatically install IIS and execute a configuration script as part of the VM deployment or post-deployment automation.

Answer

An availability set

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An Azure Policy assignment

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A network security group rule

Question 10

A company hosts a stateless web application behind a load balancer. Traffic increases during the day and drops at night. The team wants Azure to automatically add or remove identical VM instances based on demand. What should the administrator deploy?

Accepted Answer

A virtual machine scale set. A virtual machine scale set (VMSS) is the correct choice because it automatically manages a group of identical, load-balanced VMs and can scale out (add VMs) or scale in (remove VMs) based on demand metrics like CPU usage or a schedule. This matches the requirement for a stateless web application with variable traffic, as VMSS integrates with Azure Load Balancer or Application Gateway and supports autoscale rules to handle daytime spikes and nighttime drops without manual intervention.

Answer

A single large virtual machine

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An availability set

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A managed image

Question 11

A Windows VM must install IIS after provisioning and then run a script that registers the server with an internal API by using the VM's managed identity. The same steps must run automatically whenever the VM is deployed from Bicep. What should be added to the deployment?

Accepted Answer

A Custom Script Extension on the VM. The Custom Script Extension (CSE) is the correct choice because it allows you to run PowerShell or Bash scripts on an Azure VM after provisioning, enabling the installation of IIS and execution of a registration script that leverages the VM's managed identity. Since the requirement specifies that these steps must run automatically whenever the VM is deployed from Bicep, the CSE can be declared as a resource in the Bicep template, ensuring it executes on every deployment. This directly addresses the need for post-deployment configuration without manual intervention.

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A read-only resource lock on the VM resource group

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An availability set containing the VM

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A proximity placement group for the VM

Question 12

An operations team wants to deploy the same set of Azure VMs every month from source control. The deployment should be readable, repeatable, and stored as code. What should they use?

Accepted Answer

Bicep template. Bicep is a domain-specific language (DSL) that uses declarative syntax to deploy Azure resources as code. It provides readability, repeatability, and version control integration, making it ideal for deploying the same set of VMs monthly from source control. Unlike ARM templates, Bicep offers cleaner syntax and modularity, but both are valid infrastructure-as-code solutions.

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Manual portal deployment

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Azure Advisor recommendation

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Azure Resource Explorer

Question 13

An online transaction app uses two identical VMs in an Azure region that supports availability zones. The business wants the app to stay available if an entire datacenter in the region fails. What should the administrator deploy?

Accepted Answer

Two VMs placed in different availability zones within the region.. Deploying VMs in different availability zones protects against an entire datacenter failure. Each availability zone is a physically separate datacenter within an Azure region, with independent power, cooling, and networking. If one zone fails, the VM in the other zone remains available, ensuring business continuity for the app.

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An availability set with the VMs placed in different update domains.

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A proximity placement group so both VMs stay physically close together.

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A single VM with Premium SSD storage and automatic restart.

Question 14

A stateless Linux API should start with 2 instances, scale out to 6 when average CPU stays above 75 percent for 10 minutes, and scale back in when load drops. Which Azure compute resource should the administrator deploy?

Accepted Answer

A virtual machine scale set with autoscale rules.. A virtual machine scale set (VMSS) with autoscale rules is the correct choice because it natively supports scaling out and scaling in based on performance metrics like average CPU percentage. The requirement for a stateless Linux API with a minimum of 2 instances, scaling to 6 when CPU exceeds 75% for 10 minutes, and scaling back in when load drops is exactly the use case VMSS is designed for. Autoscale rules can be configured to use a scale-out and scale-in policy with a cool-down period, ensuring the application remains responsive while optimizing cost.

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An availability set with manual VM resizing.

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A single Standard D-series VM with scheduled shutdown.

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A load balancer in front of two unmanaged VMs.

Question 15

A development environment uses temporary test VMs that can be rebuilt at any time. The administrator wants the operating system disk to provide the lowest practical latency and does not need the disk data to survive a deallocate operation. Which OS disk option should be selected?

Accepted Answer

Ephemeral OS disk.. Ephemeral OS disks use the local VM storage (temporary disk) rather than remote managed storage, which provides the lowest possible latency because data is stored directly on the host node. Since the test VMs can be rebuilt at any time and the disk data does not need to survive a deallocate operation, the ephemeral disk is ideal—it is automatically deleted when the VM is deallocated or deleted, and it avoids the cost and performance overhead of managed disks.

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Standard HDD managed disk.

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Premium SSD managed disk.

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Ultra Disk managed disk.